National Security

The Promise and Pitfalls of Artificial Intelligence for Global Development

Publication:

Devex

Date:

January 23, 2018

DAVOS, Switzerland — This week, as leaders gather in Davos, Switzerland, to discuss how to “create a shared future in a fractured world,” many of the conversations will center on the role of humans and robots in a future of automation or augmentation.

Davos brings leaders from a wide range of countries together to discuss how they might individually and collectively take on shared global challenges such as the future of work. For example, the Markle Foundation focuses on realizing the potential of information technology to address some of the most pressing national challenges in the U.S. Markle Foundation President and CEO Zoë Baird sees Davos as an opportunity to share lessons from her own work and learn from other countries.

“When we started looking for ways to improve the labor market in Colorado through our ‘Skillful’ initiative, we quickly realized that it’s not just the education sector or the government or even employers who need to adjust. It’s the entire workforce system. Engaging everyone from employers, educators, policymakers, to the workers themselves in this process has been crucial for advancing systemic change,” she said. “Every state and every country will need to transition their workforce to the digital economy. This is important to get right. Unless we can include everyone in the economic benefit of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, trust and societies will decay.”

Baird will appear on a panel in Davos called the Digital Skills Imperative, in which panelists from the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates will discuss how to scale digital skills building efforts quickly enough to respond to rapid digitalization and mass automation.